Testimony has begun in the Anthony Sowell murder trial. DNA expert Dr. Nasir Butt of the County Medical Examiner's Office was first on the stand.

Dr. Nasir testified that a condom found wrapped in the blanket that a victim was buried in had insufficient DNA for testing.

Item after item tested for DNA in the Sowell investigation did not contain enough DNA to allow testing.

Dr. Nasir said the extreme conditions of heat, and being buried underground, would degrade DNA so the finding was not unexpected.

Victim Diane Turner's DNA was found on a sheet taken from Sowell's home, but the remaining sheet DNA tested was inconclusive.

He also testified that vaginal swabs from victim Latundra Billup's body did not contain identifiable Sowell DNA.

Lt. Michael Baumiller took the stand following the morning break. He conducted a taped interview with Sowell after his arrest. The tape of Sowell's interview was then played for jurors. In the tape, Sowell appears resigned, occasionally dabbing sweat with a shirt. He was also cuffed to a chair by one arm.

Sowell was given a cigarette and coffee and is being reread his Miranda rights. He then agreed to talk to the officers. The discussion is general. Who lives at the Imperial Avenue home, his mother's location and health. The audio on the tape is hard to understand.

Sowell described meeting Talisia Billups at a store, buying dope, going to his house and staying all day. He said sex was consensual. Sowell was animated as he described a sexual encounter with Billups. He said she wanted to whip him with an extension cord.

He claimed Billups was a frequent visitor to his home, but they only had sex two times. He also said she came to get high and drink his beer.

Sowell said the anger started when he broke up with a girlfriend he had loved and tried to help her get off drugs. When she did, she got a job and left him.

Sowell faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering eleven women. The bodies of the victims were found in and around Sowell's Imperial Avenue home in late 2009.